Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-09-30
EUROPEAN PENSIONS.
How other Nations Treat Their soldiers
The commissioners Report.

Pjt>bHrg Post.
The most original feature in the report
of Commissioner Black, showing the work
ingS OF the Pension Bureau for the fiscal
year, is it's description Of the pension sys-
tenn of foreign countries. The facts for
this purpose were obtained in response to
requests made by him to American Minis
tiers abroad; and General Black says that
"the most courteous consideration has
been paid to the requests in every IN
stance, save i'm the one addressed To the
Minister at the Court OF st. James" The
English pension system is not n that
will bear investigation, and Il full expos
ure of its favOritism toward the aristoc-
racy would be reliShing food for the adj
cal clubs and newspapers.
In summarizing the ICSultS of the inves-
tigations made, General Black reaches II
noteworthy conclusion:
1t will appear that two bases have been
recognized ont OfwhiCh a claim for pension
might rightfully arise in the case Of almost
every civilized power. The first Is the
mere fact OF service Of the State in a mill.
tary capacity, and the second rs disable
ment in that service.
The advocates of ~pensiOning for service
oniy, where there is neither sickness nor
wounds resulting from that service, may
pluck up courage from this discovery, but
they will be less inclined to rejoice on
reading u little further.
The service to he the basis of pension
must generally have been Of q very great
length-rarely less than ten and Oftener OF
y and 30 years. Very much Of the sys-
TENS relating TO service are wholly iuOper-
alive for any but the regular troops. In
every system which have examined u
length of time OF service, whether greater
or smaller, being established as a unit OF
time, determining the right Ia a service
pension, he who fell short of that length OF
time is barred from claiming the benefits
of a service pension, and must solely rely
upon the disability pension; he who eX-
ceeds that unit of time ny honorable Serv-
ice is entitled to additional pension privi-
leges and payment.
The logic of the situation IN a patriotic
State, General Black defines:
A patriotic State cannot afford to have
il believed by its citizens that for every
performance of duty there shall he more
than such payment rs may be agreed upon
at the time for the servIce" actually { N
dered; and indeed the logic Of the situa-
tion is that II the State shall Clothe, arm,
feed and transport its troops, 1t may upon
emergency demand their services without
other compensation than the public safety.
The foreign pension codes are based upon
this idea of the duty owed the State, and
that the same is to he rendered without
regard to the pension, save In case OF dis
ability or long service, and Of the right oil
the State to demand the services OF every
man capable of bearing arms without re-
gard TO any other than a disability pen
sion.
The provisions as to pension for long
service are, in short, analogous to n re-
tired lists for officers and enlisted men OF
the army, or rather to the portion Of the
lists depending on length OF service. We
think there is little doubt, however, that
eventually there will be a service pension
To the veterans OF the civil war,
hut il should be to the veterans who saw
service, and not to the six or nine months
men, or the great host that enlisted in the
closing months OF the war and secured big
hounties. We have heretofore recognized
a service pension in our system; it was
given the Revolutionary veterans, the sol
diers of the War of 1872, and quite recently
to the soldiers of the Mexican War. The
principle has generally been that the pen
siOniug class shall have reached theaverage
axe of ~sixty-twO years, the time fixed for
the retirement of army and navy officers.
Turning to the individual foreign sys-
TENS, in the French, each pension for any
grade is observed to contain what is called
a maximum aud a minimum figure:
For instance, that of a private soldier
has q minimum Of 600 and a maximum OF
$50 francs. The minimum pension is
gained by the length of service above
stated, and for each additional year of ser
vice the pensioner is entitled to an addi-
ton of one-twentieth of the difference be-
tween the minimum and maximum until
the maximum is attained. An applicant
who is entitled to less than the maximum
service pension is allowed an addition for
active campaign service, graded according
to the nature of his service in the cam
paigns in which he served.
But after all, this is practically only
analogous tn n longevity pay system,
which accrues to the benefit of those who
go on the retired list.
The German system is founded on the
law Of 1911, and its general basis is laid
down at the outset of that law:
Every officer and military surgeon hold
ing the rank of officer who draws his nav
irom the army appropriations, receives a
life pension If, after o period OF service